Torres del Paine National Park in Chile is, in our opinion, one of the most beautiful parks in South America. With an unparalleled variety of hiking trails suitable for both beginners and advanced hikers, this park offers a unique experience in rugged, breathtaking nature. In this park, you can tailor your adventure to be as challenging and immersive as you desire. Whether you're an adventurous soul who brings everything yourself or prefer the convenience of the various refugios in the area and the meal options they offer, the choice is yours.
This blog serves as a complete guide for booking, organizing, and preparing optimally for your trip. The first part of this guide covers choosing your route and booking and reserving the campsites. Next, we provide a detailed overview of each day on the O-trek. Then, we discuss preparations, including packing lists, and offer tips and tricks for a successful journey. Finally, we highlight organizations and tours you can book if you want to visit Torres del Paine, either through a day trip or a multi-day excursion, without handling everything on your own.
Planning and the Trail You Want to Embark On
Comparing Your Travel Dates with Availability and Booking the Campsites
The O-Trek Day-to-Day Overview
The O-Trek is a significant challenge and requires thorough planning and preparation. As you might have read, we traveled with a camper van, which slightly altered our planning for the O-Trek compared to a journey with a backpack. For instance, our start day was different. On the first day, we went from our camper van to the Torres lookout and spent the night again in our camper. On the second day, we packed up all our belongings and began the O-Trek.
Day 2: From the Entrance to Campsite Serón
On the first day, you start from the information building near Hotel Torres and Camping Central, heading towards Campsite Serón. This is a relatively short hike of about 3 to 4 hours. This way, you don't have to start too early and have plenty of opportunities during the trek to get used to your heavy backpack and enjoy the surroundings. Just before arriving at Campsite Serón, you pass by a river. Here, you can take a break and enjoy a refreshing dip.
The campsite where you pitch your tent is quite large and offers many good camping spots. There is a small building with two showers and two toilets. There is also a covered area where you must cook and a small indoor space where you can eat your meals if you have ordered them.
In Torres del Paine, it is mandatory to cook in designated areas within the campsites. You must use a stove, and cooking on an open fire is not allowed. In the past, too many massive wildfires were caused by hikers making fires on the trail. Recently, it has been decided that cooking with a gas burner on the trails is also no longer allowed, and all open fires are prohibited outside the designated areas. This requires different planning for preparing your lunch while hiking the trail. But more on that later.
Day 3: From Serón to Campsite Dickens
This day is longer than the first, and you are required to depart before 10 a.m. This is due to the requirement to be past the ranger checkpoint halfway through the trail by 2 p.m., where you must register.
This day takes about 5 hours and leads you through beautiful valleys and forests to Campsite Dickson. The final descent to the camp is challenging, with many loose stones that can easily slip under your feet. The campsite is located in a valley, surrounded by mountains. Behind the campsite is Dickson Lake. This camp has only a few good shelters with picnic benches. Therefore, it is advisable to arrive a bit earlier than most people, so you can pick out a good spot for your tent.
The indoor space of this campsite is comfortable, and there's even a small store where you can buy snacks or basic necessities.
Day 4: From Dickens to Campsite Los Perros
Although the previous day was beautiful with sunshine, we started this day with heavy rain showers. After an extra cup of coffee in hope it would clear up, we went on through the rain showers. Fortunately, you walk through forests for the first part, which remained a bit dry. This is the day when you trek to the base of the John Gardner Pass and climb to an altitude just below the snow line. The day lasts about 4 hours.
You set up your tent among the trees, and arriving early gives the advantage of finding a more spacious spot. Once you've settled with your tent, you can walk to a small lake with a glacier near the campsite.
Day 5: From Los Perros to Campsite Grey
This is both the highlight of the O-Trek and its toughest challenge. On this day, the rain poured down on us in buckets, and we had no choice but to start this pass in the pouring rain. Completely soaked – even our Gore-Tex shoes and raincoats could not withstand this amount of rain – we climbed higher and higher up the pass. Eventually, the rain turned to snow, and we walked the last part of the journey in a snowstorm. This was our toughest ordeal ever.
At the top of the pass, in clear weather, you have a fantastic view over the Grey Glacier. Unfortunately, our view was limited due to the weather. Luckily, there are several other points from where you can enjoy a beautiful view of this glacier.
The descent can be very difficult in bad weather; the path with a clay-like surface can turn into a slide. In total, it took us about 9 to 10 hours to complete this day.
After crossing several bridges, you arrive at the campsite where you can warm up with a hot shower!
Day 6: From Grey to Campsite Paine Grande
This is a relaxed recovery day, which was very welcome after the climb of the John Gardner Pass. It's not the most exciting day of the trek, and you walk only about 3 hours. However, the wind can be strong here, so it's advisable to arrive early in Paine Grande. This way, you can set up your tent along the edge of the mountain or behind one of the windbreaks. But be aware: the good spots are limited, and unfortunately, when we were there, a few tents were blown away.
In Paine Grande, you immediately notice that you've entered the W-Trek. The terrain is large, there's a restaurant, and a spacious indoor area.
Day 7: From Paine Grande to Campsite Los Cuernos
For us, Francés was already fully booked, so we had to opt for Los Cuernos. This was the day when injuries occurred, and the duration of the trek began to feel heavy. At the same time, this is also one of the most beautiful days. You walk to the base of the Británico Lookout. Here, you leave your backpack to climb to the lookout without any load. Absolutely relaxing! You're surrounded by various types of rock formations and a palette of colors from the mountains. A perfect spot for lunch.
You return via the same route and continue your way along a lake to Los Cuernos. This campsite is also quite large, and upon arrival, you are assigned a tent spot. During our stay, there was a severe storm, and it haunted the whole night. The next morning, it turned out that several tents were damaged by the storm.
Day 8: From Los Cuernos to Chileno, Camping Central, or your campervan
Since we had already visited the Torres Towers on the first day, this day was mainly focused on the return trip to the bus. The route is exceptionally beautiful as you walk along a turquoise lake. The total walking time back to the starting point is about 4 hours. When you walk back to the starting point, at a certain moment, the paths divide; one path leads to the starting point, and the other to Chileno.
As mentioned earlier, most people opt to go to Chileno. This campsite is halfway up the trail to the Torres Towers. It is located among the woods, so you only have a small section left to climb. However, don't be mistaken, the last part to the lookout is treacherously steep. As previously described, many choose to climb up in the dark to see the sunrise. Expect very low temperatures while waiting; it is, therefore, advisable to bring your sleeping bag.
Preparation and Packing List
Preparation is crucial, especially since the weather in the mountains can be very unpredictable. Predicting the weather over an 8-day period is difficult, even with weather apps like Windy or Windguru. Moreover, you book all your campsites far in advance and have no option to wait for better weather. For instance, we experienced worse weather than expected and as indicated by the weather apps. The snowstorm was a significant challenge, and we were not adequately dressed for it. For example, we did not have rain pants, and our gloves were not waterproof. The amount of rain followed by snow makes these two items essential. Now, this was our hardest day, and if your weather forecast only indicates sunshine, you might be able to leave these out.
Keep in mind that Puerto Natales is very expensive, and if you need to buy last-minute items, you will pay a lot.
Hiking and Camping Equipment Packing List
Recently, the rule has been implemented that you can no longer cook outside designated areas on fire or a gas burner, which also changes the packing list for food slightly. We were not aware of this in advance and had planned for noodles for lunch. As a result, we had to redistribute the food we brought and, for example, cooked pasta meals in the morning to eat during lunch on the trail.
Since we had our camper in the parking lot, we were also able to prepare some fresh meals with lots of vegetables, so we could consume nutritious meals during the first days.
Food and Drink Packing List
Above, you find the lists that we consider the best preparation, but of course, there is a lot of room for personal preferences and preparation. After many multi-day hikes, we have discovered that this is the ideal balance for us between taking enough food, not being too heavily packed, and still saving costs. We also met hikers who relied on powdered food or solely on Snickers. Others had freeze-dried meals for every meal. This is, of course, ideal but much more expensive.
Costs
As you may have noticed, you can make the treks through Torres del Paine as expensive as you wish. Organized tours can be booked from €1,200 for the W-trek and €1,800 for the O-trek. If you choose to arrange everything yourself and bring everything with you, like we did, you will spend significantly less. However, if you opt for a combination of self-sufficiency and extra luxury, such as purchasing food and a more comfortable sleeping place, additional costs will be added on top of our expenses. Additionally, we saved two nights because we were parked with our camper van at the entrance. Below is an overview of our costs:
Entrance park: €50 per person
Campings Las Torres: €70 for Serón and Los Cuernos for a double spot with your own tent
Campings Vertice: €22 for Dickson, Perros, Grey for a double spot with your own tent
Campings Vertice: €24 for Paine Grande for a double spot with your own tent
Food and drinks: +/- €150 for two people
Total: €240 per person
Tips for Traveling with Your Own Vehicle
If you're traveling with your own vehicle, there are two tips we'd like to share!
On the way to Torres del Paine, you'll pass by the Mylodon Cave. This is a prehistoric species that went extinct there, and its remains have been found. We found this a fun and educational stop on the way to Torres del Paine. Click here for more information and current ticket prices.
Another tip we can offer concerns the way you enter the park. We chose to enter the park through the southern entrance (Serrano). This is the unpaved, longer route, but it offers beautiful views of the mountain landscapes and lakes of Torres del Paine. Along the way, you'll come across various viewpoints where you can stop and enjoy the unique park. For the return trip, you can drive back via the other side (Lago Sarmiento). This is the fastest route and also paved.
Organized Tours
If you'd like to visit Torres del Paine National Park but have limited time or don't want to arrange everything yourself, there are various options. Several tour operators offer both day trips and the full O-Trek in groups with a guide.
The tour organization Las Torres, which several campsites are affiliated with, offers both the W-Trek and the O-Trek with a guide. Click here to go directly to their page for an overview of the different tours.
For day trips, you can look on GetYourGuide through this link. They offer various day trips, for example, to the Torres Towers or a day trip along the different viewpoints in the park.
This was our blog about Torres del Paine National Park in Chile. If you have questions about the different campsites, the trails, or the park as a whole, feel free to send us a message in the chat!
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